Three finalists out of 33 applicants were not a good fit for town, officials said. The position will be re-advertised this week and the qualifications and pay rate were adjusted slightly.

"Let's cast the net a little wider and see what comes in," said town trustee Mark Younquist.

The board agreed to change the candidate qualifications from a preferred masters degree in public administration to just a college degree being preferred. Municipal and government experience will be favored to a larger degree to get a bigger pool of applicants.

"We're looking at weighing experience more in the job qualifications," said mayor Val Truelsen.

Proposed annual salary in the application was lowered going from the $63,000 to $78,000 to the $63,000 to $67,000 range.

The board agreed to advertise the position on the Colorado Municipal League and International City/County Management Association websites.

The position will be advertised for three weeks and close sometime in February.

April 1 election

The trustees also discussed the upcoming April 1 election for town board. Terms for Mark Younquist, Megan Waterman and Ginger Black are all up. The open seats are for four-year terms each.

A legislative oversight has caused a glitch for smaller towns' planning efforts to go to an all mail ballot election. A fix is in the works, but it won't be in place in time for the April election.

Therefore, Dolores will go to a polling place election for one more year, said Dolores clerk Lana Hancock.

"It is important to note that for voters who checked the mail-ballot box in the last election will not get a mail ballot and still have to go to the polls for the upcoming election," Hancock said.

Applications for absentee ballots will still be mailed.

Mail-in only ballots save governments money, are more convenient and have shown a better response from voters.